The dreaded finals week used to occur at the end of every semester. For weeks people would prep and prepare for that one test. Four days in a week, two tests in a day — then it’s over.

Finals, which are worth 20 percent of our grades, can now occur as early as the week after spring break due to the schedule for AP/IB testing. But how early is too early? Should finals be taken prior to finals week?

AP/IB testing begins on May 4 this year, which means that finals for these classes have to be taken before that. After the final is over, class is all about review for the AP/IB exams, possibly some of the hardest tests you’ll ever take as a high school student.

At the time, I hated early finals. How was I supposed to study for a final while also maintaining my normal homework load from my other classes? It’s safe to say a couple mental breakdowns visited me during the course of my studying, but I made it through safely.

But when finals week rolled around, I only had three finals. I was ecstatic because that meant less school for me. Yippee!

Not only did taking my finals early allow more time for studying for my AP/IB exams, but it actually made me less stressed as the school year came to an end.

Now, as a senior, I understand and accept the purpose of early finals. However, don’t think I still don’t have panic attacks about keeping up with my school work, but at least this way May can wind down quickly and quietly — then it’s on to college!

“I like taking them early because for the last few weeks of school you’re not as stressed out,” said senior Claire Archibald. “You aren’t taking as many finals in one week, you have more time to prepare for your other finals and more time to actually enjoy school too.”

Having finals be all in one week is incredibly taxing — there’s a lot of information to review in a short amount of time. But early finals aren’t the perfect solution either. There are definitely some negatives.

“I had my grades suffer significantly because I didn’t have enough time to study due to the other homework I needed to get done as well as he extracurricular activities I have after school,” Archibald said.  “I’ve had many grades drop from A’s to B’s because of this. It’s really hurt my GPA overall.”

Another difficult area to cover with early finals is finding the time to study. During finals week, school only lasts for about four hours, leaving the other 20 to do some last minute cramming for your exams the next day. Without that cushion of study time it’s often hard to cover all the material in a timely enough manner.

“Though it can be stressful at the time, I think that early finals overall are much better,” said junior Brandon Kim. “Not only for preparing for the AP tests, but also for students grades.”

Since passing the AP/IB test is a huge part of taking the class as well as getting ahead in college, the more time there is to study for them the better.

“It forces us to study all the material earlier,” said senior Noelle Kendall.

As we enter the couple weeks of AP/IB testing, I’m going to remember that the previous weeks of stress all resulted in a positive benefit.

“I highly recommend early finals,” Archibald said. “They help students have a peace of mind and not stress as much about things we shouldn’t be stressing about so much.”